The day after N Biren Singh resigned as Manipur Chief Minister, the BJP’s Northeast coordinator Sambit Patra led a marathon series of marathon meetings in Imphal on Monday. He met with senior party MLAs, including those who had dissented against Biren Singh.
BJP sources said the party leadership at present was trying to reach a consensus on the next CM and announce the name at the earliest. Even as the discussions continue, Biren Singh continues to be in charge of the state in an interim capacity.
While the option of President’s Rule is not yet off the table, highly placed sources said the party was trying to avoid it as it is against President’s Rule in principle. “The party wants its MLAs to elect a leader with consensus soon so that central rule can be avoided. It is an option only if the legislators fail to reach a decision,” said a leader.
However, the party has its task cut out as it has limited time to zero in on the next CM. “This means that President’s Rule and keeping the Assembly suspended may be the only way out,” said a BJP source.
The BJP has 37 MLAs in the 60-member Assembly. Of them, seven are from the Kuki-Zo community who have not been participating in Assembly sessions since the start of the conflict in May 2023 and have said they will not engage with a state government led by Biren Singh.
While leaders of Kuki-Zo civil society organisations have told The Indian Express that replacing Biren Singh with another leader from the Meitei community is not an acceptable optionthe MLAs from the community have maintained silence on this. One of the MLAs told The Indian Express they would meet on Tuesday to discuss the way forward. Asked if they had been consulted yet, the legislator said, “Maybe there have been individual calls but we have not been called for any meeting or consulted as a group. Maybe we will be called in a day or two.”
The likely contenders
As the meetings continue, the names of a few BJP leaders have emerged as potential replacements for Biren Singh. One is state Cabinet minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh, a senior leader among Biren Singh’s critics in the party. He was the Assembly Speaker during the rule of the first Biren government from 2017 to 2022. Khemchand Singh is known to have the backing of the RSS.
Story continues below this ad
“He is a strong contender because he is the blue-eyed boy of the RSS in Manipur and they have been propping him up for a long time. He is also someone who is seen as being able to accommodate everyone and is not seen as a radical. Instead of saying inflammatory things, he pointed to the failure of the Chief Minister,” said an MLA.
Current Speaker Thockchom Satyabrata Singh, another Biren Singh critic, is also in contention. Satyabrata Singh served as a minister in Biren Singh’s first term and is known to command the support of a section of MLAs.
The name of Thongam Biswajit Singh who served in the Cabinet during both of Biren Singh’s terms is also in the mix. Despite being a contender for the top job after the BJP’s victories in 2017 and 2022, he remained among the party leaders who publicly stood with Biren Singh till his resignation on Sunday.
When the BJP government was first formed in Manipur in 2017, Biswajit Singh was one of only two BJP MLAs who had been with the BJP in the previous term. The rest, including Biren Singh, had either switched over from the Congress or were political greenhorns.
Story continues below this ad
Another name doing the rounds is that of Thockchom Radheshyam Singh, a former IPS officer who was also a minister in Biren Singh’s first term. Another dissident, he had been Biren’s adviser in the second term till he resigned from the post in April 2023.
Patra is expected to submit a few names to the central leadership before it takes the final call. Once Patra completes the talks, the central leadership is expected to hold a meeting of the MLAs, sources said.
